Study: 60% of deaths in Ontario attributed to 5 unhealthy habits

Toronto
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You probably know at least one person that drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, maintains an unhealthy diet, leads a sedentary lifestyle and has a lot of stress. It seems these five attributes contribute to a decrease in lifespan for Ontarians.

A lot of people in the Western world practice atrophy. But do you want to live longer in Ontario? Put down that can of beer and go for a walk without a cigarette in your hand to increase the amount of years you want to live.

Researchers state that 60 percent of all deaths in the province are attributed to atrophy. Overall, if everyone were to be healthy in all of those five categories then we would all live longer – poor diet, smoking and physical inactivity accounts for a loss of about two years in an average lifespan.

The research suggested that not only does quitting at least one of those nasty customs increase your longevity but it also improves your general health.

“Individually, if we all make one change like smoking less or being more physically active, then collectively we would be significantly healthier and live much longer,” said Doug Manuel, the study’s author, in a statement. “The impact that modifiable behaviours have on our health is astounding. Not only will we increase our life expectancy but being healthier will mean there will be fewer demands on both formal care giving like hospitals and informal care like family.”

If you would like to see what your average life expectancy is based on your overall lifestyle, click here. This life expectancy calculator measures your alcohol intake, the amount of cigarettes you smoke, how much exercise you undertake and what you eat in your diet.

This study comes a month later after scientists in Illinois found evidence that concluded that positivity increases your longevity.